Saving Private Dixon
by notjaneausten
Summary: AU - Daryl Dixon was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. It's now been 100 days since the initial zombie attack and Daryl had returned to free his cellmates only to become locked in the prison's commissary along with them. His brother Merle has been leading a group of survivor's which include someone from Daryl's past, to the prison and they are nearly at the gates..
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I know that some of you that have been following my other stories may be wondering why I've posted another one rather than a new chapter to my current stories. The new chapters are on their way, I promise! This is one story though that just kept prodding away at me and wouldn't let me rest until I put it down on paper, so to speak. Anyway, here it is - a little different, but I hope you enjoy it just the same. **

Carol Peletier trudged wearily through the sparse woodland searching for fallen twigs and sticks that they could use to make a fire with wherever they decided to make camp with later that night. Although the days had been pleasantly warm of late; the Georgia nights had a way of sometime turning very cool when you were camped out on the road with no shelter other than a few parked cars.

Carol had been surprised when Andrea had asked her to accompany her – Andrea had never been one to actively seek out Carol's company before so Carol was naturally curious as to why she had asked her now.

"So, Andrea…." She started to ask the other woman and laughed a little when Andrea turned around with a look of surprise on her face. "Yes, she speaks; so why'd you want to drag me away from the others? What's going on that you couldn't say in front of the rest?"

"Well; I was wondering whether you wanted to tell me what's going on between you and Merle. I've seen the dirty looks and heard the snide comments that he's been shooting you for the past couple of months. Do the two of you have a history that I don't know about? Was there a pass made that the other turned down? They've gotten a lot worse since Ed and Sophia – before them he just used to stare at you as if you weren't even there – now it seems as if you're his worst enemy." Andrea dropped all pretence of bringing Carol out to collect firewood and revealed the real reason behind her invitation. Andrea was no dumb blonde, far from it; in her life before she had been a successful attorney specialising in civil rights cases. She had received training during her college years on how to detect small nuances in a person's facial expressions to be able to detect when they were lying or trying to hide the truth. She could see those small nuances now as Carol shifted uncomfortably on her feet and tried to fob her off.

"No, no history with Merle as such. I mean – I knew his brother for a little while whilst I was living in Northern Georgia just after college. I must have been twenty two, coming up to twenty three at the time."

"Merle has a brother? I wonder why he's never mentioned him to me..." Andrea let the fact that there was more to the story than Carol had let on slip her by as she focused on the fact that Merle had a brother. They had been sleeping together for months now and not once had he ever spoken of having any family at all. It was strange to believe that the two of them had ever ended up together in the first place. If this had been her old life she would have never given the tough looking redneck a passing glance; but this wasn't her old life and it hadn't been for nearly ten months now.

It had been nine months, sixteen days and thirteen hours to be exact. That was how long it had been since Andrea had opened the hotel room door to see the manager trying to eat the sweet old lady from the next room; who had just popped out to get some ice. Andrea had screamed and ran back into the room to wake her sister Amy. They had grabbed what they could and hit the road running; and they were running still. They had joined a group that were headed up to Atlanta to the CDC; hoping to find someone with some answers. They had found the CDC alright but no answers and suffered heavy losses along the way; Jim, Jacqui, Ed, Amy, Sophia, Dale and finally Shane.

Shane – big, brash, loud mouth Shane, former deputy sheriff and best friend to their groups' leader, Rick. Shane, who had left Rick for dead back in an Atlanta hospital where Rick was lying in a coma after getting shot in the line of duty. Shane, who had then told Rick's wife, Lori that Rick was dead and then proceeded to sleep with her, possibly leaving her pregnant to boot. Shane – who had then tried to kill Rick when he showed up looking for his wife and son; and then was killed by Rick trying his best to protect the group. Shane – who had promised to take Andrea away on the road with him and then broken that promise by dying on her.

"God, this is like some shitty soap opera being played out and you can't change the channel." Andrea muttered under her breath as she kicked at the dirt beneath her feet. Carol looked over and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What was that?" Carol was puzzled at the sudden change of subject. Andrea bent to pick up a stick and used it to gesture broadly at the scenery around them.

"You, me all of this. Rick, Shane and Lori – the baby. Me hooking up with the biggest badass this side of the Mississippi and then finding out that the two of you have a history. One big, shitty soap opera."

"I told you already. I don't have a history with Merle; I hardly knew the guy. I dated his brother for about eight months nearly twenty years ago – I think I met Merle twice in all that time; it was when he was in the Army and he was home on leave for one of the times."  
"See – I didn't even know that he was in the Army!" Andrea paced around in a tight circle and then whirled around, pointing her finger at Carol. "Hah! You've already changed your story from simply 'knew him' to 'dated him'. Any other little tidbits that you'd like to share? Come on, Carol be a girl for once and let me have all the juicy details." Andrea plopped herself on a fallen log and propped her head in her hand waiting expectantly, when Carol didn't respond she added – "Okay, I'll give you a hint; this is where you tell me whether he was older or younger, whether he was a dreamboat or a douchebag…." Andrea's voice trailed off as she saw Carol's face getting tightly pinched and lips pursed together with anger. Carol seemed to be trying to hold herself together and then must have decided to let it all out in one fell swoop.  
"Look Andrea I don't know what kind of sick, twisted game you and Merle have going on here, but I want no part of it. Yes, I knew Merle before all of this shit happened but it was a part of my life that I didn't particularly want aired before the rest of the group – it was way before I met Ed and I was a completely different person back then. Come to think of it, why should I want to tell you anything about my past anyway? We're hardly friends are we? You've always thought of me as a snivelling weak widow woman unable to defend herself or those around her. You've never even noticed that I hit more targets than you do during our practise sessions and anything I tell you would probably make its way directly back to Merle; so excuse me if I don't want to play Oprah with you right now; frankly, I've got better things to do with my time." Carol was practically spitting out the words as she reached the end of her angry tirade. Her whole body was vibrating with the force of her fury as she flicked Andrea the finger as she stomped her way back to where their vehicles were parked along the Highway.

"Well – it looks as though the little kitten can roar after all. Hmmm…where's the little Mousey now, Merle?" Andrea shook her head in amazement as she recalled Carol's anger; it had been the first time that Carol had even shown that she was capable of expressing anything apart from the calm, almost tepid temperament that she had been presenting ever since she had come to terms with losing her only daughter. She had always seemed so subservient whenever her husband, Ed had been around and Andrea knew all too well what a vicious temper he'd had; having witnessed Ed backhanding Carol when they were all camped out at the quarry earlier in the year. Andrea rose to her feet and knelt down to gather a few fallen sticks in an attempt to make it seem like that was her purpose for coming into the woods and made her way back to the Highway.

"Note to self – don't make Carol angry; and also keep an eye on her pistol skills to see whether she really is better than me with her target practise." Andrea made a mental note to keep an eye on Carol over the next couple of days just to see if what she had said was really true.


	2. Chapter 2

"Merle, I may have lost my connection to my wife and my son over these last couple of months but I ain't completely lost all sense of direction. You wanna take a moment, Merle and tell me why you've been leadin' us away from Fort Benning over the last couple of weeks?" Rick stopped checking the remaining ammunition stored in the boot of Shane's old Hyundai and looked over at the grim faced red neck standing next to him. "Might I remind you that my wife is just days away from giving birth?"

"I didn't realise that you'd been noticing that I've been heading us north again rather than south. There's something that I need to check out – actually we're not too far away from it right now. Just across the other side of the Highway as a matter of fact."

"Merle…." Rick growled under his breath in warning, if Merle didn't give him a good enough reason in the next couple of minutes he was turning everyone around to head back down toward the Fort. Merle threw his hands up in the air in a show of surrender; he started to pace up and down in front of Rick, rubbing a hand over his bristly jaw.

"It's ma 'lil brother, Daryl. He's doing time over at Mert County – he should have never been in there in the first place; he was only covering up for me!" Merle's guilt had been slowly building up inside him for months now – guilt over the fact that he didn't even know if his baby brother was dead or alive. Merle had been in and out of scrapes his whole adult life and had been out on parole when a little incident in a bar had spiralled out of control. In order to keep his brother from doing serious time, Daryl had stepped forward and taken the blame. As a first time offender the judge had shown a little leniency and ordered that he serve 90 days and 180 hours community service. Ever since the Walkers had taken over, Merle had been determined to make his way over to Newnham to try and discover whether Daryl had made it out alive.

"Well, shit Merle! We ain't all hard hearted you know! Newnham would have been almost straight off from Route 85 where we first lost Sophia; we could've headed straight here after leaving Hershel's farm." Rick stabbed a finger at the map and pointed out where they could have crossed under the Highway; eight months on the road could've been cut much shorter if only Merle had been more fortcoming.

"I didn't know y'all well enough then to feel able to tell y'all about ma 'lil brother. We should check out the prison anyway; they're bound to have some sort of infirmary. It would save having her give birth on the side of the road like some old native Cherokee woman. And if Daryl's gone – well it should be me that deals with him." Merle chewed on a piece of tough jerky and looked over at the former Deputy Sheriff.

Rick placed his hands on his hips and started pacing up and down the deserted Highway. Merle had been with the original group since before Rick had woken from his coma to this apocalyptic nightmare. True, they'd had their teething issues with Rick being a lawman and Merle skirting life always just outside of the law. But Merle had been a godsend in his tracking and hunting abilities and the group probably wouldn't have made it as far as they had without him. Rick stopped pacing and turned to face the redneck again.

"Show me again on the map exactly where this prison is in relation to where we are standing right now."

"I can do even better than that…follow me." Merle pointed his finger to the left and then over to Rick, Rick motioned to Hershel to keep an eye on Lori who was resting in Hershel's old red truck and followed after Merle. Merle led Rick down a path of the main Highway leading to some overgrown railroad tracks, which they followed for about half of a mile. The men pushed their way through some bushy areas until they came to a clearing which overlooked a bubbling stream. As they looked across the stream they could see the lower end of the prison's exercise grounds. A large, grassy area completed fenced in with twelve feet high razor wire.

Rick walked a little closer to the edge of the stream and did a quick head count of the Walkers milling around the exercise field and upper courtyard. Satisfied with what he saw, Rick turned to look over at Merle, grinning.

"We can do this – let's go and tell the others."

Moving slowly and carefully the group slipped through the gap in the fence that Glenn had made; as soon as the last person passed him, he twisted a long length of wire back through to fasten the edges together again. Taking up positions along the fence line, each person used whatever they had to hand to draw the Walkers to them so that Rick could make a run for the gates at the top of the yard; pulling them closed and sealing them off from the rest of the Walkers in the prison complex. By late afternoon they had completely cleared out all of the Walkers in the lower field and were now gathered around a small campfire.

Merle had been taking watch on an overturned bus but he rejoined the rest of the group as they were discussing plans for the future.

"We need to make sure that we keep the Walker's away from the stream; if we can dig a canal through to connect with the stream fresh water shouldn't be a problem." T-Dog sketched out a plan in the dirt by the fire and Hershel leant down to sift a handful of the dirt through his fingers; testing the quality of the soil.

"The soil's good, if we can get hold of some seeds we could plant tomatoes, cucumbers and maybe some soy beans."

Merle gave a loud snort which caused Rick to stop checking the fences and come over to join them at the fire.

"Something you'd like to say, Merle?"

"You bet yer ass I do! I didn't lead y'all here so that we can all play Old McDonald! What about my brother?"

"Daryl? What's this got to do with Daryl?" Carol stopped pulling pieces of what once was a roasted owl and looked over at Merle; trepidation written over her face.

"For all of you that don't already know, Merle has a brother, Daryl who was serving time here just around the time that the prison would have fallen…." Rick started to explain only to be interrupted by a furious Carol.

"You finally did it, didn't you Merle? You finally dragged him through the shit right down to your level…well I hope you're happy with yourself. Take a look up there and you tell me whether you think he would have made it through all of that!" Carol pointed her finger over to where Walkers were pressing up against the boundary fence where the exercise field met the prison courtyard. She choked up with tears, part anger and part grief – to know that Daryl was incarcerated in that horrible mess was more than she could bear and she whirled around, pressing her hand against her mouth to try and stifle her sobs. When she had known Daryl he was working at a lumber mill in Northern Georgia but had been full of dreams to follow his elder brother into the Army. Carol had heard stories about the wild times the elder Dixon brother had whenever he was home on leave and knew that it was only a matter of time before he dragged Daryl into one of his messes. The last time Carol had heard from Daryl was a brief letter telling her that he had finally joined up and that it was probably better for the both of them if they called it quits. Carol had been absolutely broken up at the callous way Daryl had ended things between them; they'd had a very romantic weekend together just before she'd had to go away on a week's training course for her work and when she had got back she'd found the letter on her doorstep.

"Wait a bit…are you saying that Carol knows Daryl? That she knew them before any of the Walker's arrived? I thought that she lived near Atlanta – aren't they from the north?" Glenn was very confused over the turn of events; he'd never heard Carol get angry before and for her to let out a cuss word; even one as mild as 'shit' meant that she was overwrought and not in control of her emotions.

"Yeah, little Mousey and my baby brother had quite a thing going back in the day. She musta been about twenty two – twenty three and Daryl just starting his first job at the lumber mill. I was in the Army at the time and Daryl wanted to have a little bit of freedom before he joined up as well. I was only in for a short while before getting myself discharged – but Daryl well, he served a full eight before deciding to get out; and most of that was overseas."

"You sound proud, Merle."

"'Course I'm proud – he's my baby brother. What I ain't proud of is the fact that I let him get himself locked up in here; don't know what I was thinking, letting him take the fall like that. He deserved better, much better than I ever gave him anyway." Merle turned his back on the rest of the group so that they couldn't see the tears causing his eyes to shine in the firelight. Andrea quietly walked over to stand next to him, offering whatever support he would chose to take.

"I know that you're all tired and hungry, I'm gonna ask you to just push on a little bit harder before you can rest. Tomorrow we head up to take the yard; most of the Walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early which means the supplies could be mostly intact. They have an infirmary, commissary…"

"But dangerous; we're running low on ammo. What if we run out before we make a dent?" Hershel wanted to be the voice of reason.

"That's why we have to go in there. Hand to hand. After all that we've been through; we can handle it – I know it." Rick looked at each member of the group; wanting them all to know that he believed in them wholeheartedly. "These assholes don't stand a chance." Rick addressed this remark directly to Carl in a lighter manner, the young boy looked up at his Dad and nodded in agreement. Rick glanced around the group again and rose to his feet; before heading off to take his watch.

All of the men, plus Maggie gathered a little apart from where the rest were still slumbering. Rick took them over the plan one final time.

"The women plus Carl will create a diversion to draw the Walkers back to the fence; they can use whatever we have available to take them out at close range. Meanwhile the rest of us will work our way through the courtyard and into the main block. I suggest that we start by clearing out cell block C; over there…" Rick pointed out the poured cement building that once used to house over a hundred prisoners in twin bunked cells. "It's the only block that appears to have an exit through the guard tower and courtyard. If we can clear the block and the courtyard then we have somewhere that we can at least block off at both ends during the night." As the rest of the group slowly started to stir, Rick dished out what little weaponry they had to hand, warning them all not to be over zealous with their ammunition. "We'll make a start as soon is everyone is up on their feet – they'll be time to rest later."

It took four hours to clear the courtyard and cell block. A tired and filthy Rick jangled a set of keys that he had taken off a Walker guard and led everyone into their new homes.

"We can lock the doors at night for extra protection as well as the main cell block doors. I have one set of keys, Glenn has the other. Everyone choose a cell and get some rest, tomorrow we look for the infirmary and commissary. Merle, don't argue you need the rest too." Rick glanced over to where Merle was already starting to bristle up in defence. "Andrea, see that he takes the time to just chill out, will you?"

"Sure Rick. Come along big guy, let ole Andrea work her magic touch."

"Well, Sugar if you insist, who am I to argue?" Merle let himself be led away by the small blonde and the rest of the group laughed.

Carol led a very tired Lori into one of the cells nearest the doors; she didn't want Lori to have to travel too far in her advanced state of pregnancy should they have to make a run for it. Carol slumped down onto the bunk next to her friend and sighed heavily.

"Do you want to talk about it, Carol? Are you worried about seeing him again?" Lori offered hesitantly, not wanting to make Carol feel like she was prying.

"Not worried exactly; but I look a lot different these days than when I was in my twenties…"

"Believe me, sister, we all do…" Lori said drolly, making Carol snort with amusement.

"No, I mean really different. I had long dark hair and was just happy with life in general. God! The thought of ever having a man take his hand to me in anger would have never even seemed a possibility –Daryl used to call me his little firecracker. I was so bubbly and joyful – the world seemed perfect to me and I had the most wonderful man in my life and could ask for nothing more."

"So what happened to change all of that?"

"Merle happened, that's what. He'd been stationed down at Fort Benning and had been issued a weekend pass and driven up to see Daryl. He and I had been seeing each other seriously for about six months by then and were talking about settling down together. He was going to join the Army and I was going to travel with him and continue my teaching at whatever base he'd be stationed at. Well, Daryl was supposed to be coming over to my parent's house for dinner on the Saturday where we had been planning on announcing our engaged to be engaged announcement – only he didn't show. No explanation, he just didn't show up…"

"That can't be all surely?" Lori pressed her hand to where Carol was nervously twisting the edges of her blouse into knots with her fingers.

"No, he apologised very sweetly with flowers and perfume and said that he had completely forgotten that we had made plans with my parents. Well, my Daddy was furious with him for letting me down and with me for agreeing to continue seeing him. Everything was great for another couple of months – we got a small apartment together and then…"

"Ah, let me guess Merle came back." Lori rolled her eyes at the complete picture that Carol was painting for her.

"You guessed it, although it wasn't too bad. Merle had a girl back in town and so the four of us went up to Atlanta for a long weekend. We got a couple of rooms in a lovely hotel; spend the nights dancing under the rooftop gazebo – all in all a perfect weekend getaway. I had to go away on a weeklong course pretty much as soon as we got back to town, so I when I left, Merle still had a couple of days left of leave and the two of them were planning to do a little hunting before Merle headed back to the Fort."

"I take it that's when you got back to the empty apartment and the 'Dear Jane' letter?"

"Yeah…pretty much. What I didn't mention was the fact that we were engaged properly by then and the weekend away was to celebrate that and the fact that…"

"That what?" Lori hated to be left hanging and was desperate for Carol to continue with her story. Carol refused to be pressed into giving over more of the sorry facts from her past. She shook her head and swiped a finger under her eye to remove any faint traces of tears.

"No…I can't…anyway it's all in the past now and doesn't matter anymore."

"Okay, I'm sorry I badgered you like that; blame it on my hormones if you like! Carol, honey I hope that you know that you can come to me any time that you like if you just need to talk or anything." Lori wrapped a hand around Carol's arm and lightly squeezed, Carol looked over and managed a faint smile.

"I know Lori, and believe me I would much rather talk to you than the little blonde pit-bull. Do you know why she asked me to go collecting firewood yesterday afternoon? It was because she thought that Merle and I had history together. I mean, could you imagine Merle and I together?" Both women chortled at the thought of Carol being intimately involved with a man like Merle Dixon, Carol's smile faded as she realised that she could have well been involved with a man like Merle Dixon; as she had no idea what kind of a man his brother would have turned out like after nearly twenty years of close contact.

"Carol, I know what kind of thoughts are racing through that head of yours right now. What does it matter what kind of man Daryl is now? He's nothing to you anymore and you don't have to love him or even like him…you've only got to learn to tolerate him and that's all." Lori gave Carol that final piece of advice and then stretched her back as she rose up; rubbing a hand over her massively pregnant stomach. "I think baby and I need to take a little walk to stretch our legs; someone's not to happy that we've been sitting down so long. You take care, Carol and think on what I've just said."

"Yeah…will do. See you later, Lori." Carol remained sitting on the bunk until the afternoon sun had faded well into the early evening and causing the shadows to lengthen over the cell floor. She didn't stir until Carl poked his head through the cell door later that evening.

"Carol, my Dad wants to know if you'll come out for a minute. He wants to go over the plans for clearing the rest of the buildings with everyone."

"Sure, Carl. Tell him I'll be out in a minute."


	3. Chapter 3

Rick's plans were simple enough in theory; he, Hershel, T-Dog, Glenn, Merle, Andrea and Maggie would suit themselves up in riot gear and work their way through the rest of the Walkers in the courtyard and then press on to try and locate the infirmary and commissary. Carl would stay behind with Lori, Carol and Beth safely locked behind the gates of the cell block.

Things didn't go according to plan from the get go. Merle and Andrea had gotten snarled up between two Walkers fighting over a fallen third. Merle had got in the way of Andrea's viscous down swing with her machete and had taken the full brunt of the swing on his left side; taking his hand clean off his wrist. Andrea's screams of terror had not only brought Hershel running toward them but a whole host of Walkers that were attracted to the scent of the fresh blood

"He's losing too much blood, too fast and attracting way too many Walkers to be safe. My advice is to try and get him to the Animal clinic that's just a few miles down the road. There's bound to be medical supplies there. Patch him up the best you can and keep him away from the prison until the bleeding is under control. I heard about a small town about twenty miles away that is supposed to be fortified and free of Walkers; it's called Woodbury." Hershel quickly wrapped Merle's wrist tightly in scraps torn from the bottom of his shirt. "Now go, quickly!" Glenn escorted Andrea and a very pale Merle down to the bottom gates and quickly opened them for Andrea to drive through. T-Dog gave covering fire to enable Glenn to close the gates and make his way back along the walkway and into the courtyard.

They fought their way back through the baying Walkers and into the administration buildings. The electricity had shut down weeks ago, leaving the windowless corridors completely dark and maze like. They moved slowly through as a group with Glenn leaving chalk marks along the walls of the corridors that they had already cleared. They could hear Walkers shuffling ahead of them and hastened their pace to try and keep well clear.

"These corridors must lead back over to blocks C and D eventually, which leaves the commissary and infirmary somewhere in the middle." Just as Rick spoke they came across a huge herd of Walkers that had been attracted to the noise of their footsteps echoing down the empty hallways. They all started to turn around to retrace their steps and in the confusion Hershel tripped over a fallen Walker that they had failed to see in the dimness of the corridor.

"Aaarghhhh!" Hershel screamed as the Walker tore a chunk out of his calf muscle. The pain was excruciating as he felt the gnawing teeth settle deeper, it felt as if his whole leg was suddenly on fire and he jerked spasmodically. T-Dog and Glenn set upon the Walker with a crowbar and tire iron; ripping Hershel out of the Walker's reach and into the supporting arms of Rick and Maggie.

"Come on, let's get a move on!" T-Dog led the way down the corridor with Glenn taking the rear, they found a doorway fastened with a padlock and chain and blasted off the lock with a pistol. Rick and Maggie pushed their way through the door which led into the abandoned commissary and gently placed Hershel on the floor where he lay twitching in agony.

"Hey! What the f-?" A loud voice blasted out from where the metal shutter dissected the serving area from the seating area of the commissary. T-Dog whirled around to aim his pistol at the five heads that were peering through the shutter. The voice belonged to a man wearing ragged jean, a ripped sleeveless shirt and a leather vest with angel wings sewn into the back. He was the only one out of the six not wearing standard issue prison wear.

"Do it, Rick and make it fast. Below the knee if we have any chance of saving the rest of the leg." Hershel ignored everything going on around him to groan out instructions to Rick. When Maggie made to hand Rick her knife, he was about to take it when the man with the leather vest shook his head.

"No, it needs to be something that cuts through the bone."

"Just shut up, man!" T-Dog raised his pistol at the group of prisoners and the mysterious stranger. The man just shrugged in a way that tugged at Rick's memory; he just couldn't put his finger on why.

"Just tryin' ta help…no matter either way. Either you cut it off and the infection gets him or you don't cut it off and he turns into a biter."

"He's right, Rick…." Hershel raised pleading eyes towards Rick, knowing that they had to act fast as he could feel his life force draining out of him. Rick looked over at the man standing by the shutters and saw his eyes flicker towards the machete behind glass often used in case of emergency. _Well, I guess this qualifies as an emergency._ Rick broke the glass and raised the machete over his head, with one firm strike removed Hershel's right leg just below the kneecap. Hershel gave a single high pitched scream of agony before succumbing to the pain and plunging into darkness.

The group used what they could to bind the stump trying to stem the flow of blood. Rick gestured to the mysterious man. "You – come along with us. The rest of you stay put for now, we'll be back to check on you later. You're safe enough in here for now, but don't try to go anywhere else."

"You can't just leave us in here like this! We need to know what's going on; are the National Guard on their way?" One of the prisoners stepped forward, a young black man, "I need to call my old lady; does one of you have a cell phone I could borrow?"

"Jeez, Oscar – I already told you, there ain't no phones, no electricity neither. What you gotta have some old guy bleed out in front of you before you believe me?"

"Shit D – we thought you were just joshing us; I mean why else would you wanna come back here after being let out early?" An older prisoner with a fading auburn moustache looked over at the leather clad man with a worried frown on his face.

"Just wanted to make sure you guys made it out okay – I knew that no one else would give a rat's ass over whether a bunch of cons were okay or not. It was just my luck that I chose the worse day to get caught in the middle of a riot." The man turned to look at Rick – "These guys are okay, they won't cause any trouble. Is there any way that they could come along if I kept an eye on them?"

"Okay – but no funny business, now hurry up!" Rick nodded sharply as he and T-Dog half carried; half dragged the unconscious Hershel back the way they came all the way to the doors to block C.

"Carl, open up!" He whispered loudly as they approached the gates of the cellblock, hoping that Carl would be there to open the gates so that they didn't have to slow down at all. Carl rushed over to the gates as soon as he heard his Dad's familiar voice and unlocked the gate to swing it open. Rick stopped the prisoners from entering the cell block behind him and gave a gesture to T-Dog to keep an eye on their guests. T-Dog nodded and Carl locked the gate behind his Dad. Rick and Glenn carried Hershel into Lori's cell and laid him straight on top of the mattress. Carol was there immediately; removing the outer layers of makeshift dressing to inspect the injury.

"I need anything that you can tear into bandages. Lori, grab a pillow and place it directly under the stump. What's his pulse like?" Carol snapped out instructions, instantly taking control. Lori crouched down as best as she could and pressed a finger against Hershel's neck.

"Weak and thready." She reported back, and then grabbed the pillow that Carol had requested.

"Where are my bandages, people? Come on!" Carol didn't look up as Beth pressed strips of torn blankets into hand, with bloody fingers Carol wrapped them tightly around Hershel's stump until she was satisfied that no blood would continue to seep through.

"Now what, Carol?" A tearful Beth asked from where she was crouched in the doorway, staring at the unconscious body of her father, lying so still in the bunk.

"Now we wait for him to wake up."

"If he wakes up…" Maggie retorted from the doorway, her face pale and streaked from where her tears had streamed down in rivulets through the mess that covered her cheeks. Rick gestured to Glenn to join him in the corridor; he pulled a set of handcuffs from his back pocket and handed them over to the young, Asian man.

"Just in case, keep an eye on him for me." Glenn took the handcuffs and nodded solemnly; he knew that there was a chance Hershel wouldn't wake up as himself but as a turned Walker – the cuffs would protect them all should that be the case. Rick looked over Glenn's shoulder to where Carol was offering young Beth words of comfort. He managed to catch her eye and tipped his head to one side to indicate that he needed to speak with her. Carol wiped her hands on a piece of towelling not already soaked through with Hershel's blood and strolled out to join Rick in the corridor. He led them away from the others and bent down low.

"How's he doing really?" Carol focused her attention on scrubbing her fingers individually with the small piece of towel, thinking over Hershel's condition.

"Well, the bleeding's slowed down dramatically even if it hasn't stopped altogether. He needs a massive dose of antibiotics and proper pressure bandages – if, and it's a big if, if he does wake up then we're going to need crutches and more bandages in order to keep the wound clean and dry."

"Okay, I may know someone that should be able to help us out with locating the infirmary. Carol, I understand that you knew Merle's brother Daryl once upon a time…do you think you'd be able to describe him for me know?" Rick leant against the wall of the cell block and folded his arms across his chest.

"Oh, I don't know Rick, that's asking a lot – it's been nearly twenty years since I last saw him!" Carol poked the bloody towel through the belt loops of her pants and looked over at Rick, he smiled enigmatically back and raised an eyebrow. "Okay – he was about your height, sandy hair; when I knew him he was a quiet man and never one to waste words on meaningless chitchat. He had a way of saying everything with just a look or a shrug…"

"Ahah! That's where I saw it..." Rick exclaimed, slapping his hand against his thigh and smiling broadly. He had finally remembered what had triggered such familiarity when he saw the man in the leather vest shrugging his shoulder….it was a gesture that had become all too familiar with a certain redneck that had led the group to the prison in the first place. "Carol, would you mind doing me a favour?"  
"Sure Rick, what do you need?"

"We came across a group of prisoners and a visitor that had been locked in the commissary by a well-meaning guard. T-Dog's keeping an eye on them just outside of the main cell block door. Could you maybe take a casual wander over there and let me know whether one of them is maybe Merle's brother, Daryl? I know that there may be some painful history between the two of you; but I'd feel better accepting his help if I knew who he was."

"Okay, as long as I don't need to talk to him." Carol pushed off against the wall and poked out her tongue at a grinning Rick, "You just wait, Rick Grimes. I'll think of something to pay you back for this, and it will be when you least expect it." She strolled down the corridor as if she didn't have a care in the world and when she reached the end made sure that she kept her back angled to the cell block door as she addressed T-Dog.

"Hey, T. Just thought that you'd want to know that we managed to stop Hershel's leg from bleeding out."

"That's great, Ca….." T-Dog started to reply and was interrupted by a slow drawl coming over from the shadows on the other side of the gate.

"Won't stop him from turning though; he's gonna need antibiotics pushed through his system fast to keep the infection at bay and to get his fever down."

"How did you know he's got a fever?" Carol asked quietly; there was no need for her to turn around to try and see whether Daryl was the mysterious visitor or one of the prisoners; she would have known that low drawl anywhere.

"I seen it before; they all get a fever once they've been bit. You need me to show y'all where the infirmary is?" Daryl rose silently to his feet and stretched out his lean arms as he yawned widely. "I'm gonna need to make a pit stop along the way; I stashed my cross bow in a side room when I came in to see these guys and I ain't trekkin' half way across this shithole without it."

"I just need to clear it with Rick and then I'll come with you." When T-Dog protested, Carol moved into the light to reveal her identity to a very shocked Daryl. "It's okay T. Daryl and I are old friends, aren't we, Pookie?" Daryl had been trying to picture the lean woman in front of him with the young girl he knew twenty years ago; it was only when she sneered her old nickname for him through the bars that it all finally became clear and all the anger and resentment that he felt for her came bubbling to the surface.

"Shit! Carol – my Carol? What the f…'scuse my language, but what the frickin' hell are you doin' in a place like this? I thought you and that dreamboat of yours moved your little love shack down south years ago? Thought you would've had the standard two point four kids and dog by now…"

"Dreamboat, my ass!" T-Dog bristled at the comment and threw his arm around a stricken looking Carol; something in the way that Daryl had grimaced when he had made the point about her and Ed having children had caused Carol to flinch and she had shied away from the bars and almost retreated back into the same shell she had crawled into when Sophia had first went missing. "Hey, Carol – why don't you go and tell Rick the good news that we've not only found someone that knows where the infirmary is but that he just happens to be the shitty brother of Merle, too." T-Dog kept his voice low and soothing as he gently steered Carol away from the cell doors, ignoring Daryl's cry of protest at the slur against him. "Hey, Carl why don't you come on over and practise being a gentleman for once, and show the lady where your Dad is?" T-Dog raised his voice slightly so that it reached down the block to where Carl was hovering outside of Lori's cell anxiously watching over Hershel. At the sound of T-Dog's request Carl ran up the length of the cell, as soon as he saw Carol's shattered expression, Carl knew that something or someone had triggered a memory of Sophia stumbling out of Hershel's barn. He wrapped his lean arm around Carol's waist and leant into her side to offer his support. Keeping his voice optimistically cheerful he asked – "So Carol, when the new baby arrives do you think I'll get to name her?" Carol mustered a small smile and muttered something in response. T-Dog waited until they were just out of earshot and then rounded furiously on Daryl

"Way to go, shithead! Firstly, that asshole of a husband of hers beat her soundly almost every day for the past ten years – it only stopped when he got bit back in Atlanta. And just for the record; she just lost her only child to the Walkers not eight months ago!"

"How old was the kid?" Daryl bit out between lips white with shock – his bubbly, light as air Carol, beaten by her own husband; and then to lose her only child too…

"Barely ten years old, a little girl; Sophia was her name…" Daryl barely even heard T-Dog's reply, _Sophia_; that was the name they had picked out for their imaginary children when they had first discussed their future together; Sophia after his grandmother and Benjamin after her grandfather. _Wait, what had the other man said – 'barely even ten years old'. _Carol had told a lie when she had said that it had been twenty years since she had last seen Daryl; it had actually only been eleven. She had been in town for her grandfather's funeral and ran into Daryl at the gas station and then at the grocery store…one thing had led to another and then bam! He'd woken up alone in a strange hotel room that she'd rented for the week only to find that she had paid the bill and skipped town.

"Get Carol back down here, I said get her back down here now! Carollllll!" Daryl practically screamed her name down the corridor; having put all of the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind.

"Now, back away slowly from the bars…that's right just a little further." Rick had come racing down the corridor, his Colt Python raised with the safety off. "I take it that you're Merle's brother Daryl?" At the other man's surly nod, Rick continued. "Merle was under the impression that you were still incarcerated here at Mert County, I take it that is not the case?"

"Naw…I got out after thirty served. Headed back to visit my guys when the shit hit the fan, worried that these pussies wouldn't make it without me." Daryl looked over at where his former cell mates, Axel and Oscar were sitting quietly behind him.

"That's right, Sir. We didn't believe it when Daryl dropped by to tell us that there were places where people were just walking around like zombies. When he came back week after week; it jest seemed to be getting worse. Finally the D-man came by on visiting day and the guards locked him in too…"

"Was supposed to be just while he went out on a look see – when he didn't come back, I tried to bust the door down and only succeeded in busting my shoulder out…that was a coupla months ago." Daryl rolled his shoulder where it was only now just beginning to heal properly; without proper medical attention it had healed more slowly than it would have.

"Okay; I'm going to take a few of you back to the commissary with me to gather up some supplies; we're gonna clear out the next cell block along for you to stay in. Daryl – you're going to lead T-Dog and Carol over to where you think the infirmary is. Do you think that is going to be a problem for you? 'Cos I warn you, you try and pull any more of that shit with Carol and there's gonna be hell to pay." Rick looked directly into Daryl's eyes warning him just to try and start something.

"No problem…it can wait; for now anyway. Rick? That's your name right?" At Rick's nod, Daryl continued. "So Rick; since you seem to know so much about me….where's that asshole of a brother of mine hiding?"

"Merle's not here right now, he and Andrea went out to look for some more supplies. Merle had a little accident out in the yard and needed to get out of sight for a while."

"A little accident? What kind of accident?" Daryl may have had all kinds of reasons to hate his brother right now, but blood was blood after all.

"The kind where your girlfriend accidentally chops off your hand….that kind of accident." T-Dog chipped in that little snippet of news, causing Rick to glare over at him.

"What!?" Daryl stepped forward and glared at the other two men through the bars of the door.

"Now settle down; they headed off to the Animal clinic a few miles away and then were going to head onto a town called Woodbury; Hershel said that it was well fortified and that they'd be safe there." Rick raised his hand to ask Daryl to step back away from the door again before continuing. "Do you know anything about this town, Daryl?"

"Naw…kept mainly to this side of the Highway once the Walker's started moving in. Once I had busted Axel and Oscar out we were planning on heading down to Fort Benning; I heard that there may still be a small outpost there."

"That's where we were heading too…before we needed to find more urgent things."

"Like what?" Daryl sat down on the floor just by the door and Rick put the safety back on his pistol and holstered it before mirroring the other man's pose on the other side of the door.

"My wife's pregnant…almost nine months now. We've been living out of our cars for the past seven…no eight months; never staying more than a night or two in one place. We needed somewhere that we could hunker down; I was prepared to push onto the Fort but Merle suggested here instead saying that we could kill two birds with one stone; find you and let Lori have the baby."

"That's some tough life you guys have been living; have you always been together as a group?" Daryl leant his back against the cell door and peered over his shoulder at Rick.

"No…Carl; Lori and Carol met up with Merle, Andrea and Glenn near Atlanta; Carol still had Ed and Sophia with her then and my wife and son were with my friend, Shane, I didn't join them until later. We were a larger group back then; until we reached the CDC where we lost Jim; Ed; Andrea's Sister Amy and Jacqui. One family decided that they were going to head south so we also lost Morales; Miranda; Louis and Eliza. When we were at Hershel's farm we lost Sophia; Otis; Shane; Dale; Jimmy and Patricia; but we gained Hershel, Maggie and Beth along the way. What about you; lost anyone along the way, Daryl?"

"Always travelled alone, less to worry about that way…but I might have lost something that I never even knew that I had…" Daryl's voice dropped a little lower and he turned to stare down the length of the corridor. "Rick…I think that Carol's little girl might have been mine…"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Just a little warning that you might to hide all sharp implements after reading this chapter! Don't worry - it's not as bad as it may appear and will all become clear later. You might want to get them ready again for when we discover what part Merle had to play in their break up in a future chapter...Boo! Hiss! Yeah, yeah, yeah...If you want a sweet version of Merle check out my 'Trying to not to love you' story instead - cause you're gonna hate Merle after this one!**

After Daryl's startling revelation Rick debated whether Carol should be forced into his company again by letting him lead her to the infirmary. Rick shared a glance with T-Dog who simply shrugged his large shoulders to indicate that he didn't have a clue. Rick knew that every moment they delayed the worse things could get with Hershel. He loped off down the corridor to where Carol was sitting quietly stroking a wet cloth against Hershel's forehead.

"Tell Carl exactly what you need, he can make the run for you. I'm not going to force you into Daryl's company any more than is necessary; the two of you obviously have some unresolved issues between you." Rick sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his thick, wavy dark brown hair. Carol looked up gratefully and nodded her head.

"Carl already volunteered; he's getting my backpack and has a list already made out. I basically told him to grab everything that he can in the line of bandages and such but gave him pretty specific things to look out for too. God! I'm so sorry, Rick – we have enough to deal with already without letting my skeletons out of the closet too!" Carol rested her head against the metal support of the cot frame and hunched her shoulders together.

"Daryl seems to think that there is every chance that Sophia might have been his…did Ed know?" Rick kept his voice purposely low to prevent anyone that was walking by from overhearing their conversation. He could tell from the way that Carol's shoulders started to shake that he was right.

"I had just started seeing Ed when I got word that my Grandfather had died – Ed had been pressuring me to sleep with him but I kept putting him off; a few weeks after I got back from the funeral having jumped right back where I left off with Daryl I suspected that I might be pregnant. So when Ed started pressuring me again – I agreed. Less than a month later we were married and Sophia came along a 'little early'. It wasn't until Ed had to undergo a complete medical for some new health insurance policy at the car dealership that he realised that there was no way he could have fathered Sophia because he was sterile; I think Sophia must have been around three or so at the time."

"And let me take a wild guess here….that's when the beatings started too. Why didn't you just leave him, Carol? You could have easily contacted Daryl and told him about Sophia…and yet you chose to stay."

"Ed always made it perfectly clear what he would do to both me and Sophia if I ever tried to leave him…I tried it once and ended up in hospital for a month; I never tried it again."

"That's the same reason you never told Daryl that he was a father?" Rick asked gently, crouching down at Hershel's bedside so that he was at the same level at the woman he was gently questioning.

"No, not the only reason anyway…I was pregnant before with Daryl's baby and he made it perfectly clear even then that he had no interest in becoming a father…" Carol knew that she had shocked Rick with her blunt words and looked over at him. "He left me the week after we had become engaged and in the same week that I found out for sure that I was pregnant…"

"What happened to the baby? I know you too well to think that you wouldn't have gone through with the pregnancy." Rick lay a comforting hand on Carol's arm and she smiled softly at his gentle touch.

"I had the baby too early; they said it was due to undue stress. He was perfect, Rick but so small. I named him Benjamin and had him buried next to my Granddad." Carol choked back the tears at the memory of her sweet, little boy.

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry; I wouldn't have dreamed of asking you…." Rick bit back a heavy sigh, feeling guilt rise up at the way he had pushed with his questioning. Carol swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and summoned a small, trembling smile.

"I'll be okay, don't worry so much Rick. Go and get on with what you have to do…Go on, I'll be fine." Carol gave his shoulder a slight nudge and Rick rose to his feet, dropping a kiss to the top of his head before walking over to the door. Carol turned her attention back to the ailing man on the bed and dipped her cloth into the cool water sitting in a bowl by her feet.

As Rick went to step through the doorway; he saw that Lori and Maggie were wrapped in each other's arms just to the left of the opening. He knew then that they had both overheard the conversation; one that he'd hoped wouldn't be shared around.

"No one else needs to know, okay Ladies? Carol doesn't need any more stress right now, she's skirting on the edge of collapse as it is. Maggie, try to keep her occupied with your Dad as much as possible. And Lori – I don't mean to be nasty; but you're…"Rick paused before completing his sentence to his wife; not wanting to strain the already tense atmosphere between the two of them even further.

"I know Rick; I'm probably the last thing she needs to reminder her right now." Lori smoothed a hand over her swollen belly and tipped her head forward. "Go on, Rick. Go do whatever it is you need to. Maggie and I will take care of the rest; I'll go and rest in a cell a little further down the block and Beth can trade shifts with Carol in looking after Hershel. You take Carl and T-Dog with you, we'll be okay with just Glenn."

"Okay, stay safe." Rick encompassed both ladies with his glance, but lingered for a long moment staring into Lori's liquid, brown eyes.

"You too, hotshot." Lori replied softly, before turning to waddle down in search of a cell block far enough away as not to cause Carol any distress. Rick followed her with his eyes for a moment longer before whistling for Carl to come out and join him.

"I take it you heard all of that too?" He asked his son quietly, noticing the sheen of emotion in Carl's eyes. Carl sniffed a little and rubbed the back of his hand against his nose; before nodding silently.

"And you know not to tell anyone else what you heard?" Rick waited for Carl to nod again before jangling his keys in his hand. "Okay – you take T-Dog and Daryl and head over to the infirmary and I'll take the rest of these guys back over to the commissary to load up the food. Meet you back here in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Yeah, what'll I tell Daryl? He's gonna wonder why Carol didn't come along…" Carl shifted the position of his borrowed Stetson further forward on his head, so that its large brim shadowed his red rimmed eyes.

"No need to tell him anything Carl, I'm sure he realises just how much of a shock this must be to Carol. You just go ahead and get that stuff for Hershel; go on now." Rick gently nudged Carl out of the door and watched his son scrub his nose with the back of his hand; straightening his shoulders as he walked along to meet T-Dog at the end of the corridor. Rick leant back against the doorframe and ran a hand through his dark hair; _ I bet someone up there is laughing their asses off as us right now; if a zombie apocalypse wasn't enough let's bring on the angst and play guess the Daddy too! _

"It's like our whole life has become a shitty version of 'Jerry Springer'; all we need is a zombified Ed suddenly demanding a paternity test and taking pot shots at Daryl and it'd be perfect…" Rick mumbled miserably under his breath and then felt instantly guilty for his thoughts; after all wasn't he experiencing exactly the same thing with the whole thing with Shane and Lori? He pushed himself away from the doorframe and told himself to get a grip - as Carol had said to him earlier - he had enough shit to deal with without taking on any more baggage. He would go and deal with the other former inmates and sort the remaining food and maybe then he could stop and think about how this latest fiasco brought about by Merle would affect the balance within the group.


	5. Chapter 5

A short time later Daryl stood back as T-Dog jangled a large metal keychain in the air. "So, Dixon are you ready to show us the way to the infirmary?"

"Sure thing, hoss. Where's Carol?" Daryl craned his neck down towards the cells expecting to catch a glimpse of her familiar blue eyes.

"She's not coming along." Carl muttered as he tried to brush past the two men without revealing his red-rimmed eyes. _Asshole, _he whispered quietly hoping Daryl wouldn't hear his comment. Unfortunately the younger Dixon had exceptional hearing and whirled around on his feet to cuff the young boy sharply around the back of his head.

"Watch yer mouth, kid!"

"Daryl! You wanna explain to me why you felt the need to slap my kid around?" Rick came around the corner just in time to see Daryl's treatment of Carl.

"Little shit needs to learn to mind his elders; never mind he's far too young to be using language like that – he called me an asshole; didn't think I could hear him but I did." Daryl felt bad about laying a hand on the kid; he'd experienced it enough at the hands of his father to know how it felt.

"T? Trade you?" Rick tossed over the boxes of dried pasta that he'd been in the process of carting through to the cells. T-Dog reached up a large hand and caught the pasta in mid-flight.

"Sure thing, man."

"And you, young man," Rick turned to his son tapping him on the brim of his hat, "Apologise to Mr. Dixon." When Carl refused to look around, Rick tapped him again. "Now, Carl."

"'m sorry."

"That's better. Now I don't think your mother needs to hear about this, alright? Lord knows, she has enough to worry with the baby without having to worry about your language too."

"Yessir." Carl tipped his hat further down his forehead so that it shaded his eyes and slipped behind his father to bring up the rear of their small party.

"Daryl, why don't you show us where this infirmary is and perhaps tell me a little more about yourself? Both Carol and Merle mentioned that you were in the Army; served your eight and then got out, is how Merle described." Rick motioned for Daryl to take the lead and they slowly moved through the dim corridors and into the administration buildings.

Daryl snorted in response and muttered sarcastically - "Ha! Just goes to show what he knows. I knew that asshole didn't pay attention to anything I said!"

"So, were you in the Army or weren't you?" Rick questioned and rubbed a hand over his forehead in confusion. Daryl thought about what to reveal and then shrugged his shoulders; what did it matter if he told Rick the truth? It wasn't as if he could get court martialled anyway….

"I was in the Army…for a little while. Merle persuaded me to join up, I hadn't planned on it initially – just wanted to settle down with Carol and raise a couple of rug rats…" Daryl paused at a snort of derision from Carl, and noticed Rick hanging back to place a hand across his son's back. Something in the boy's expression had him holding back from blasting him one again. "Anyway, Merle convinced me to do it on the basis that the Army would pay for an education and we'd be better off in the long run. I got halfway through boot camp before I was recruited due to for my unique skill set…"

"Recruited? By whom?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Daryl deadpanned back, and then bit back a chuckle at Rick's expression. "Okay, I might not have had to kill you, but sure as heck you'd lose that Sheriff's badge, Peaches."

"What…? No one's called me that in a long time…" Rick stopped walking and looked over at the other man.

"Think hard Peaches, real hard. Virginia ring any bells?"

"Virginia…? Shit! That was you?" Rick turned to Carl and slung a hand over his shoulder. "Hey, Carl; do you remember me telling you that story of how I went on a course over in Quantico and then ended up on a search and rescue up in the mountains?"

"A little. Wasn't it a kidnapping or something? A senator's daughter?"

"Yeah…that's the one. I was at the FBI taking a refresher course on interrogation techniques and the whole place got taken over when this Senator's daughter was kidnapped. There was another military organisation involved and their team leader was called 'Thunderbird 1'."

"Yeah, some prick in the Pentagon must have been smoking weed when they decided to name our team – 'International Rescue', you know after that British puppet show? Even worse when they gave us code names – we nearly got laughed out of town when we had to work with the Brits. Must have thought we were all loco." Daryl picked at his thumbnail and snorted in memory. "Anyway, your Dad's radio handle was 'Peaches' due to the fact that he was the only Southern boy on the team; managed to get himself lost up in the mountains."  
"So you not only had to find a missing Senator's daughter but my Dad too?" Carl looked over at Daryl, a tiny bit of respect colouring his voice.

"Well it turned out that the Senator's daughter had decided that she really didn't want to attend the fancy college that her parents sent her to and had decided to skip town with her no account boyfriend instead. Your dad here, simply fell down a ravine and dropped his radio; smashed his compass to bits too; found him wandering in a circle after a few hours."

"Wow, Dad! How come you never said anything about the man that found you?"

"I never knew who he was, just his code name – Thunderbird 1." Rick nodded his head over to Daryl, "So, thank you."

"No problem; you left enough of a trail that even a kid like Carl could have tracked you down."

"So that's your skill set – tracking?" Carl asked, looking over in awe.

"Yeah – don't matter what it is or what environment; I've always been able to spot the little things that other people might ordinarily miss."

"What about Carol? What made you change your mind?" Rick asked softly, he just couldn't see the man before him abandoning his fiancée and unborn child so callously; hadn't Daryl himself said that all he had wanted was to marry Carol and raise some children.

"I didn't change my mind – she did. I joined up the week that she was away with work; I left her a letter telling her to meet me at the airport. I had a couple of days free at the end of the first week before they sent us off to Boot camp – she never showed. When I called the apartment the phone had been disconnected; I jumped in a cab and went back but she had already packed up and gone. I never saw her again until the week of her Grandpa's funeral…and we know how well that turned out." Daryl stopped walking when he realised that Rick was no longer following behind; he turned back to see identical expressions of shock on both Rick and Carl.

"Daryl…that's not what happened…Carol told me about the note that you left; there was no mention of meeting her at the airport. She just said that it told her that you'd joined up and that it was better that you called it quits. Her words, man, not mine."

"Fuckin' Merle! He jest couldn't accept that I was finally happy!" Daryl whirled around and punched his hand into the concrete wall; oblivious to the way the knuckles split on impact, blood running down the back of his hand and dripping onto the floor. "I should have known he'd do something stupid! He must've switched letters – I would never have said something like that to Carol; she was my whole world, Rick. I loved her." Daryl sank to his knees, pressing his hands against his burning eyes in an effort to stop the angry tears from falling. "I loved her." He repeated softly, "I loved her."


	6. Chapter 6

Carol rose from the bunk and swiped a finger under her eye to remove the last vestiges of tears from under her eyes, determined to try to put the past behind her once and for all. She would always keep a special spot in her heart reserved for her lost children but knew that if she let herself wallow in her grief for too long it would be all the harder to try and climb out from the darkness that would likely overwhelm her.

She left the cell that she and Lori had claimed as their own and crossed over to where the other woman was caring for a still unconscious Hershel, "How's he doing, Lori?" she asked quietly, voice still husky from her tears. Lori looked up at the sound of Carol's voice and forced a weary smile to her face.

"The bleeding's slowed considerably and he's stable for the moment. He did give me a bit of a scare earlier and I thought we'd lost him for a minute but he's picked up a little now." Lori shuddered as the memory of performing CPR and battling to save the elderly man ran through her head like a movie. She shook her head slightly to clear it and dipped a cloth in a waiting bowl of cool water and wrung it out before gently laying it across Hershel's forehead. Carol took another step into the cell and leant against the doorframe, folding her arms across her chest as she listened to Lori.

"Any sign of fever?" Carol asked quietly, watching Lori smooth the cloth over Hershel's face and neck. They had all noticed that everyone developed a fever once bitten by a Walker; some turned sooner than others. They had met a doctor at the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta that had told them that the change could occur anywhere from a few minutes after being bitten right up to 36 hours. Lori shook her head in response to Carol's question and laid the cloth back in the bowl before pressing her hands against her back and trying to rise up from her crouched position. Carol stepped forward to lend a supporting hand and helped the very pregnant woman to her feet, keeping her hand pressed against the base of Lori's spine and rubbing in small circles.

"Thanks Carol, you always know exactly where to press to soothe my little aches." Lori smiled over her shoulder and arched into Carol's tender touch. "Hershel's temperature **is **slightly elevated; but it could just be his body trying to fight off an infection – that axe was hardly sterile in the first place. I'd be more worried if his core temperature suddenly took a nose dive because it would likely be that the shock is just too much for his system to handle." Carol murmured in agreement and continued to rub circles in Lori's back. "How're you doing, Carol?" Lori twisted her head around to try and look into her friend's eyes but Carol kept her head down and shrugged slightly in response before dropping her hand away and resuming her earlier position of leaning against the doorframe. Her gaze was fixed on her scuffed boots and her voice quiet as she tried to answer Lori as honestly as she could.

"I saw him standing behind those bars and it was like the rest of you just fell away. I felt like I was moving through water and all the sounds around me were muffled. Until he spoke… and then I just saw red and thought I would start screaming."

"I'd like to give that Merle Dixon a piece of my mind!" Lori hissed angrily, not wanting to disturb Hershel with raised voices. Carol looked up briefly and chuckled at Lori's tone before sobering up.

"As much as I hate Merle right now for what he's left me to deal with, I have to admit that I hope they've managed to find him some help – if only so that I can break his nose when they get back! Honestly though, I don't think that we'd have made it this far without him and he's very much a part of our group. I think I might have been okay with it all, if only he'd have given me a heads up on what his plans were. It was just such a shock, I never thought I'd see Daryl behind bars, despite of what I said earlier. He always seemed to have a handle on his life and was always so determined not to be just a carbon copy of his brother." Carol kicked the heel of one foot with the toes of her other repetitively and Lori reached over to gently rub her arm.

"Look Carol, he might still surprise you. I mean, we don't even know the full story of why he's even in here. Maybe he was just visiting a friend or something…"

"Yeah, maybe." Carol murmured, not wanting to pin any hopes on Lori's suggestion. "Listen, why don't you go and get some rest? I'll sit with Hershel for a while, you need to get those feet up for a little while."

"I won't argue with you there, I am feeling a little tired." Lori smiled gratefully at Carol and leant over to give the older woman a hug. "If you don't want to be in here when they get back with the medical supplies just send Carl over to wake me and I'll take over."

"No, it's okay. I'd rather face him with other people around, I know Rick will be there to support me." Carol squeezed Lori gently and nudged her out of the doorway. "Go, rest. We'll be fine."

Rick looked over at Daryl's whispered confession and didn't quite know what to say; to have loved someone that much only to lose them due to someone else's interference would have been bad enough, but when that person was your own brother…

Daryl was currently sitting in a heap on the concrete floor, while he tried to digest the fact that Merle had betrayed him in the worst possible way. He had made no secret of his intention to have Carol join him on the Army base and to eventually settle down and raise a family with her. Carol had hinted a couple of times that she was more than ready to start popping out little miniature Daryl's – they'd had a couple of close calls in their last six months together and realised that it wouldn't be a disaster at all if she were to have fallen pregnant. Daryl had even bought a ring with his savings and had just been waiting for the right time to propose – only to act on a drunken impulse suggested by Merle that Daryl should join him in the Army so that they could be bad ass drill sergeants together one day.

"Daryl?" Rick knelt by the younger man's side to try and catch his attention; when Daryl looked up he realised that Rick had been trying to speak to him for a while but he'd been so lost in his memories that he'd not even heard his approach.

"Yeah, let's get a move on. It should only be around this corner, second door on the left if I remember rightly." Daryl rose to his feet and pointed down the corridor, "I'm gonna hit the warden's office, I stashed my bow in a little side room just over there. Hang tight for a sec and I'll be right back." Daryl slipped into the room opposite and reappeared a few moments later with his beloved bow strapped to his back and fastening a large buck knife in a leather holder around his waist. He pointed down the corridor and then back at Rick and himself. Rick nodded and placed a hand on Carl's shoulder to warn him to stay put.

Carl pressed himself against the wall and watched as the two men carefully slipped around the corner noiselessly. He heard the faint scraping of a door opening down the corridor and then nothing more until his father reappeared to beckon him to follow.

"Now son, it's fairly quiet at the moment so I need you to lend Daryl a hand filling up Carol's bag from the list she drew up. I'm gonna be right outside the door and will tap twice if I need you to make a run for it. Remember, as quietly as you can, a get the hell out if you hear me tapping. Okay?" Rick gave Carl his instructions in a quiet but decisive manner before slipping silently out into the corridor to keep watch for possible attack. Carl tore the list in half and gave one slip of paper to Daryl, keeping the other for himself. Daryl scanned the items, but paid more attention to the familiar cursive handwriting than the contents themselves.

"Hey kid, Carl isn't it?" Daryl called softly and Carl swung his head around to shush him. "Look, this ain't hardly a hospital set up. I say we sweep everything into that bag of yours and grab that metal trolley over there and just clear this room completely." Daryl ignored Carl's attempt at ignoring him and carried on talking quietly. He was a quietly spoken man at the best of times, so Carl strained to hear his whispered suggestion. Daryl wrapped a couple of sterile dressing packs around the wheels of the trolley to muffle the sounds against the linoleum flooring and started to load the bulkier items onto the lower shelves. Carl nodded as he finally realised Daryl's plan and started to fill Carol's rucksack with the smaller items such as syringes and medicine bottles. When the trolley and bag were completely filled, Daryl stepped over and opened the door a crack to see Rick keeping watch where the corridor turned back to the cellblock.

"Peaches, we're about done here and ready to head back. Everything clear?"

"Yup, come on out. Had nothing in the last few minutes but a few groans, but they sounded like they were heading towards the back of the building rather than in our direction." Rick jogged silently over and gaped at the amount of stuff that the two of them had crammed onto the trolley and rucksack.

"Let's not wait around and find out, shall we." Daryl shoved the overflowing back into Carl's waiting arms and got behind the trolley, grunting a little in effort as he started to push it along the corridor. Rick took point and started leading the way back to the cellblock, a part of him anxious to get the pressure bandages and antibiotics back to help Hershel; but there was another part of him that wasn't looking forward to the confrontation that surely awaited Daryl on his return.


End file.
